Velominati Super Prestige: 2011 La Vuelta a España

Spain is an awesome country. It has amazing scenery, culture, cities and chicas… oh, the chicas. Its football competition features the world’s best players, their national team are the reigning World Cup holders, and they boast world champions in tennis, Moto GP, Superbikes and Formula 1. They regularly kick the collective asses of France and Italy, and a lot of other European countries when it comes to bicycle racing, although most of their recent heroes have somewhat of a cloud hanging over them. So why does their Grand Tour hardly raise an eyebrow when compared to the other two big tours, and why the fuck do they still allow cowards on horses armed with poison darts to taunt and kill a beast as noble as el toro for ‘entertainment’?

I can’t really answer the last one, but the fact that La Vuelta is treated like the road racing equivalent of a red-headed stepchild is about as fair as the Corrida itself. To me, and to many pros, it is seen as a tour of redemption. Those who, for one reason or another, either due to bad luck, bad management or bad form suffered a less-than-stellar Tour de France, now get a chance to make something of their season and add a ‘major’ to their palmares. Riders like Jan Ullrich, who in 1999 took the amarillo jersey after sitting out Le Tour with a dicky knee. 2008 saw Contador make amends after his Astana team was prevented from starting le Grande Boucle under a doping cloud. In fact, La Vuelta and doping have more than a passing aquaintance, with Valverde winning while under a pending hearing in 2009, and of course little Robbie Heras getting stripped of his 05 title after an EPO positive. Last year wasn’t without its own scandal, with a positive for 2nd place ‘sensation’ Ezequiel Mosquera dragging La Vuelta’s name through the red dust again. It could well be the dirtiest tour of them all, a race that itself seeks atonement as much as those who race it.

This year’s edition has the same sense of redemption written all over it, with some of Le Tour’s unfortunates having a crack at it. There’s Wiggo, who was in the self-proclaimed form of his life before snapping his twig-like collarbone early on. Can he show us what he had promised on the roads of France in the Dauphine, or will the Spanish heat and steep, long climbs be too much for him? How about Jurgen Van den Broeck, also looking great before his own clavicle calamity ended his July. Invisible Denis will also be there, his Geox team considered not good enough for the Tour, out to show that he’s still a force and add to his two Spanish victories. Other battered old warhorses who will never give up easily are Andreas KlÃ¶den and Carlos Sastre, but father time may have finally taken its toll on this duo.

In reality, it’ll probably come down to the younger brigade made up of last year’s winner Vinnie Nibali, J-Rod, Scarponi, and Anton. It could be a blow-out, or one of the best races of the year. We may even get another drug controversy to keep up the status quo of years gone by. Whatever happens is anybody’s guess, which is why this race is one of the hardest to pick for VSP contenders, and one that might even be as exciting, vibrant and colourful as the country it traverses for three hot weeks.

So pour yourself a glass of Sangria, give the start list a long or glancing look, and post your picks before 5am Pacific time (yeah, I don’t know when the hell that is either…) and if you have any doubts, confusion or questions, head to the VSP page for clarification, rules and/or rebuttals. No horsing around, no bullshit.

About brett

Whilst Brett hails from the land Down Under, he hates that fucking song. An Aussie now living as a Kiwi, he is at home on the rich dirt of New Zealand’s mountain bike trails as he is on the scorching tarmac of Australia.

Despite his geographical disadvantage, the cobblestones and kassien of Belgium and Northern France hold a special place in his heart and it’s where you’ll find him each Spring, either with a bike underneath him or a fine Belgian ale in his hand.

@Chris why don’t you try shaving your arse first, then slowly work your way down your left leg to the foot over a few days – then if you don’t dig the look and feel of it, you can always avert your eyes and look at the right leg til it all grows back?

Haha, you must be a proper Doctor with such sage advice!

Mrs Chris has on occasion complained about eyebrow and back hair, maybe I should do a deal whereby she can organise whatever gentleman grooming she see fit and I can shave the guns!

@Marcus Howdy, mate! Not sure the Piti principle applies on top of the rest day change penalties, but I suppose that’s up to the (disinterested) higher powers. The course has been selective and this competition is coming down to me vs. Antipodes Mooiste, i.e., yourself and NZed’s most eminent company lawyer. I’ll need any edge I can find.

Can’t help but feel a little bad for Froome. Had he been able to ride for himself earlier he’d most likely be in red today and on his way to the top step of the podium on Sunday. Still a great accomplishment (assuming he stays in 2nd), but opportunities like that to win a grand tour can be a once in a lifetime deal… here’s hoping he gets more chances in the future.

@LA Dave indeed – time for Sky to get Wiggo on the front of a full black and blue Skytrain lead out whilst Cobo is having his lunch and blow the spaniard out the back door (mind you, after the horlicks on the TTT, no guarantee they would maintain it!)

Nice ride for Anton today. Salvaged something positive after a rough couple of weeks and gave his compatriots quite a thrill after 33 years. Interested to see if he or another Basque rider can step up tomorrow.

Just as Prudhomme designed the best TdF for years, with interest maintained to the end, the Vuelta scripters seem to have run out of plot with 6 days to go, and it is becoming a bit meaningless in terms of a stage race – most of the sprinters have gone elsewhere, and there is nowhere, not even a TT, for any real scrap to take place between the GC boys, which is what the last week should be about, non?

Surely this is something they should have sussed in advance – they have two explosive riders 13 secs apart, yet no real race on???

Just as Prudhomme designed the best TdF for years, with interest maintained to the end, the Vuelta scripters seem to have run out of plot with 6 days to go, and it is becoming a bit meaningless in terms of a stage race – most of the sprinters have gone elsewhere, and there is nowhere, not even a TT, for any real scrap to take place between the GC boys, which is what the last week should be about, non? Surely this is something they should have sussed in advance – they have two explosive riders 13 secs apart, yet no real race on??? Shame

I’m really surprised (and disappointed) that they didn’t put another TT in there; but that’s how it goes. Cobo, in my worthless opinion, is one of the least deserving winners of a GT I can think of for at least a score; with the possible exception of Sastre at the Tour in ’08. Dude goes uphill fast on one day and walks away with it.

A simple TT would have put a more credible spin on it, certainly if Cobo would have kept the lead despite it.

We’ll see how the route looks for next year; that will tell us if the organizers are pleased with how it turned out or not.

Reading “The Sweat of the Gods” currently, and it’s interesting that Desgrange seemed ever unhappy with the Tour, he was always pushing for better and better routes with more and more excitement. It’s no small wonder that the Tour ended up being considered the best one of the lot, though my personal favorite remains the Giro.

@frank ditto on all – I did look forward to the Giro, though the COTHO drama, especially as he kicked everyone’s ass so hard, spoiled it a bit this year, would have been better without him, worthy or otherwise

that said, at least with the TdF one is allowed to tell everyone else to fuck off and hand over the remote, coz they know the greatest show on earth is on, and respect must be granted to it’s obsessive followers (still only have one TV in my house)

congratulations to all of us in the Vuelta Groupetto, sterling work considering how easy it is to miss the time limit

@brucej Yeah, it’s kinda neat in a low-profile-not-like-a-toadstool look, but the way he wears it pushed back looks bad. But then again, aesthetics are clearly not his strong suit as his sock length amply demonstrates.

@frank Frank, I’ll see your Cobo as least deserving winner and raise you an Oscar Pereiro. At least Cobo won a stage in this Vuelta and Sastre won a stage in the Tour he won. Pereiro didn’t win a stage in 06 and “won” because of his massive lead gained on stage 13 (won, incidentally and rightly by Mr. Jens Voigt) and Landis’s disqualification. Cobo has (by my reckoning), 9 career stage wins, Pereiro, 8.

@frank I think Cobo showed his worth on the Angliru, and he lost little time on most other climbs. He also gained some time on other climbs and lost not too much in the TT. I think Cobo is a more deserving GC winner than Basso in the 2010 Giro. At least Basso’s squad rode for him from the beginning.

And if it wouldn’t have been Cobo, who would it have been? Wiggins didn’t have a stage, Froome had the team tactics against him until too late, Mollema was never in the picture for actually winning the Vuelta, Menchov almost didn’t show. And so the list continues.

@frank Frank, I’ll see your Cobo as least deserving winner and raise you an Oscar Pereiro. At least Cobo won a stage in this Vuelta and Sastre won a stage in the Tour he won. Pereiro didn’t win a stage in 06 and “won” because of his massive lead gained on stage 13 (won, incidentally and rightly by Mr. Jens Voigt) and Landis’s disqualification. Cobo has (by my reckoning), 9 career stage wins, Pereiro, 8. Enjoying some damn fine weather here in Wisconsin too – 264 marvelous kms over the weekend in picture perfect Wisconsin landscape; red barns, silos, cows, corn and near-empty roads.

And if it wouldn’t have been Cobo, who would it have been? Wiggins didn’t have a stage, Froome had the team tactics against him until too late, Mollema was never in the picture for actually winning the Vuelta, Menchov almost didn’t show. And so the list continues.

That’s a good point, and emphasizes why this Vuelta was a let-down! The best Vuelta was a few years back when Gesink was close to taking the lead. I think Valvestem won that year.

I’m changing my screen name to Peloton Fodder. Or maybe Water Carrier. No, not Water Carrier. That implies I’m actually good for something. *shuffles away from yet another VSP event, head down, eyes watering*

Out of that year’s top ten, only Joaquin Rodriquez and Cobo were riding this year. This year’s Vuelta was a bit anticlimactic and disappointing. That doesn’t say Cobo isn’t the rightful winner but it was less fun to watch.